Sports Talk Ep. 514

Jeremy and Zam welcome Shaheed back into The Press Box, and start the show talking about VANOC and its relationship with the media, the boys also get into the Canucks epic 14 game road trip and the play of Mason Raymond. It’s also just passed the midway point of the NHL season so it’s time to do some power rankings, so the boys give their top 5 teams in the league, they also talk about the NFL conference finals and Brett Favre throwing that infamous pick near the end and more.

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Sports Talk Ep. 513: Headshots and NFL Conference Championships

Headshots are at the top of the agenda on tonight’s show with the QMJHL’s Patrice Cormier and OHL’s Zach Kassian getting punished for recent head shots. The Canucks continue to roll along yet the Calgary Flames are continuing to sputter after their 9-1 loss to the San Jose Sharks. As well, the NFL Conference championships kick off on Sunday so the boys make their picks.

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Battle of the Network Stars

In a decision that may seriously botch the landscape of late night TV, Conan O’Brien rejected NBC’s proposal to push the Tonight Show back to 12:05am in order to make room for a half hour show featuring Jay Leno.  While it is still uncertain how this will all play out, Conan surprised many in the industry by not simply accepting NBC’s new work shift.

For a plan flawed from the start, Leno’s attempts at a 10:00pm primetime comedy show have failed.  Miserably.  Viewing audiences for The Jay Leno Show have dropped more than 30 per cent compared with programs in the same timeslot a year ago.  Even as early as last Thursday, when the other major networks were airing encore episodes of their shows because of the BCS National Championship, NBC was live with a new Leno.  The ratings for that show fell below those of Law and Order reruns.  Jays’ decision to come back to TV after only a short hiatus was risky, and something that both he and NBC must have understood.  It was five years ago that he announced he would step down from the Tonight Show and that Conan would take over.  During that time, Jay realized that he couldn’t walk away from showbiz, and NBC couldn’t walk away from a marquee name.  That’s what a network will do when it’s in fourth place in the ratings and in danger of being passed by the CW.  Instead of developing new show ideas, they try to breathe life into old ones.

Now it may cost them up to $80 million dollars.  That’s how much Conan O’Brien’s buyout clause is if his contract is broken in any way.  At the same time, NBC may be seeing some repercussions of giving Leno a gentle nudge out the door.  Remember back when Conan was NBC’s hot new commodity and had his eyes set on the Tonight Show gig, whenever Jay Leno decided to step down.  I think Conan may have played some hardball at the end of his last contract saying if he wasn’t the one to replace Leno, he may jump ship to another network.  That may have expedited Jay’s decision, as he would have had to set a timeline for his departure. And after the incident with David Letterman getting burned and going on to star at CBS, this may have become a decision that NBC didn’t want to mess up — and yet they did anyway.  Of course the winner in all this is Letterman who has become stronger than ever in the coveted 11:30 time slot and really solidified his ratings.

Life imitates art? A Dexter fan in Indiana pleads guilty to the murder of his little brother

A 17-year-old boy from Rising Sun, Indiana, is being tried as an adult in the strangling death of his little brother, 10, the Associated Press reported Dec. 4^th.

According to prosecutors, Andrew Conley is an avid follower of the Showtime television series Dexter, which chronicles the exploits of a sociopathic serial killer. Conley believed that he too was a sociopath, and had had homicidal fantasies since he was in grade eight.

Conley is, without a doubt, mentally ill. Cold-blooded murder is not something a sane, healthy person is prone to. But Dexter is not to blame.

Anyone who’s ever watched the show knows that Dexter Morgan, serial killer and adopted son of a police officer, kills according to a code of ethics: his victims must deserve to die.

This doesn’t excuse murder by any means, but it does beg the question, if Conley is such a huge fan of Dexter, why target his own little brother?

Perhaps Conley’s grasp on reality is so tenuous that he saw his little brother, Connor, as Dexter’s deranged serial-killing brother Rudy, who Dexter kills in defence of himself and his sister.

Whatever the circumstances, Connor Conley’s death is not Dexter’s fault. Dexter is a television show. It’s fiction.

In fact, despite a multitude of insinuations by the news media that violence in TV, movies and video games increases violent crime, there is no concrete scientific evidence to prove this.

Years of psychological research have proven that witnessing violence can increase aggression, but no causal link between media violence and crime has been found, according to a 2006 study by University of California scientists.

The study found that in the short term, exposure to violent movies actually decreases crime.

Even violent videogames, which are even more widely blamed for youth violence,  cannot scientifically be proven to do so, a similar study out of Harvard found.

So rather than heaping blame on Dexter, let’s take a closer look at Andrew Conley’s life. It may well be that he was in at a high risk for violent offences all along, and his fascination with Dexter just an unfortunate coincidence.

Sports Talk Ep. 511: Fall Finale

This week as the year nears a close, the hosts talk about the biggest news stories of the year, Tiger Wood’s indiscretions as well as the rest of the dirty laundry and biggest sporting news stories of 2009. As well the NHL has rehashed an old argument of renaming the NHL awards, so Zam and Jeremy dive into those murky waters.

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Sports Talk Ep. 510: NHL Advice, Brendan Burke

This week the hosts near the end of their school term and the boys take a sigh of relief. The NHL Board of Governers meet in December so Zam and Jeremy give them some advice what to do with some of these broke franchises as well as the boys get into a touchy issue and talk about Brian Burke’s son coming out saying he’s gay and the impact felt among a sports team.

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A Hairy Situation

Whether or not women should consult with their significant others before cutting, dyeing, permanently curling, straightening or altering their hair in any way was the basis for a heated discussion on today’s Kid Carson Morning Show on the Beat 94.5.

The apparent triviality of the subject served comedic purposes, but the underlying debate raised important societal questions on appearances and male and female relationships.

On one side of the argument, women should not have to ask permission to alter their own physical appearance. The side in favour of consultation however argued that altering one’s look affects both people in the relationship, and a woman’s selfishness in deciding to cut her hair for her own purposes can cause her man to lose attraction towards her, create distance between the couple, etc.

Boohoo.                                    

The argument in favour of consultation is so extremely shallow that it can barely be given any validity as an argument. A hair cut does not affect one’s personality, and holistically and morally that is what we should base our attractions on when choosing a life partner. Where are society’s priorities?

The argument has one main logical fallacy: that if men want control over what their women do with their hair, women should be given the same rights with regards to their men. Tattoos, piercings, buzz cuts, moustaches and beards are all fair game.

The whole debate seems juvenile, because hair is hair is hair. It grows back, it falls out and even permanent alterations are easily reversible.

If the question of appropriate and acceptable hairdos is so apparently controversial, what would the pro-consultation males have to say about their other half getting implants or plastic surgery? And would their attraction to her be lessened if she needed an amputation?

The excuse of I’m-attracted-to-blondes-but-now-you’re-a-brunette to justify a lack of attraction, is morally repulsive and unethical when the situation is altered: I’m-only-attracted-to-two-legged-women-but-now-you-only-have-one. Unfortunately, cancer doesn’t wait for consultation.

But relationships revolve around compromise. So it would likely be in the best interest of both individuals to mention any “life-altering” intentions so as to make their significant other feel included in their life. Like a little hair trim, it is more of a courtesy than anything else.

Sports Talk Ep.508: SFU Mourns, CFL Playoffs Begin, NHL GM's meet and more!

This week our hosts dust of their medical expertise and get into the tragic loss of SFU QB Bernd Dittrich. The Canucks look to rebound from 3 straight losses against the Avs and CFL Playoffs get started Sunday Morning and much more.

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More Money for Social Programs, Says Victim Services

There just aren’t enough community-based, affordable social programs in Surrey, say Surrey RCMP Victim Services workers.

“There needs to be more money available, more programs available. It’s terrible,” said Victim Services worker Marnie Neal in a Nov. 9 interview, adding that if people need free counselling, there’s only one place in Surrey they can go.

“You get one session, and it’s first come first serve on a Tuesday night, and that’s it. If you have no money and you don’t get Crime Victims Assistance you don’t get any counselling,” she said. “There’s big lapses in that.”

Surrey also needs to improve access to mental health services, according to Neal. “People will be in a mental health crisis, and they’ll phone Surrey Mental Health, and they’ll say yeah, can you come in in February?” she said.

Free or low-cost programs for families of people who have attempted or committed suicide and for survivors of suicide are also lacking, she says. Although there are a few youth programs in place, nothing is available for adults.

Added to this, past and present funding cuts by the B.C. government have affected support services for seniors in the Surrey area. According to the B.C. NDP website, funding cuts have affected some 5,600 seniors. Programs that have had their funding cut include social housing and the Ministry of Community Development.

When community support funding is cut, “the people who don’t have friends and neighbours [end up] eating cat food,” Neal said.

She’s pragmatic when asked what effect the lack of support services has on the community.

“What do the people do? They do without.”

Sports Talk Ep.506: Torch's Touchdown and Favre's Revenge

Join Zam and guest-host Jeremy Bosch for our delve into the Olympic Torch relay that started in BC on Friday as well as they get legal and talk about when hockey crosses the line into a crime as well as much more.

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